True Stories
True Stories are those based (sometimes loosely!) on fact. They cover topics as diverse as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and other human struggles. Meet some of history's most intriguing characters, find out what it's really like to climb a mountain or paint a masterpiece. Truly, the True Story is one of cinema's most engaging and enthralling genres.
Bio-pics feature in this section and are also gathered together separately under the 'Biography' sublink left.
Pictured: Inside the Las Vegas mob, Scorsese's unromantic 'Goodfellas'
Samurai Assassin (1964)
7.6/10
Director: Kihachi Okamoto
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Ito Yonosuke, Eijiro Tono
Based loosley on true events, the great Toshiro Mifune plays a masterless samurai in 1860 as the rule of the shogun is coming to an end. A few disgru... Read more
Savage Grace (2007)
5.9/10
Director: Tom Kalin
Starring: Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne, Hugh Dancy, Elena Anaya
The incredible true story of the murder of Barbara Daly. A social climber who married into the 'Bakelite' fortune just as it was beginning to wane, Ba... Read more
Savage Messiah (2002)
6.5/10
Director: Mario Azzapardi
Starring: Pascale Montpetit, Polly Walker, Luc Picard
During the late 1980s, a Canadian social worker, Paula Jackson, investigated a commune run by a leader who referred to himself as Moses, a messiah fig... Read more
Saving Mr Banks (2013)
7.5/10
Director: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Bradley Whitford, Emma Thompson, Jason Schwartzman, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Co...
Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks star in "Saving Mr. Banks", inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic "Mary Poppins" made it... Read more
Saving Mr Banks (Blu-ray) (2013)
7.5/10
Director: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Bradley Whitford, Emma Thompson, Jason Schwartzman, Tom Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Co...
Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks star in "Saving Mr. Banks", inspired by the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disney's classic "Mary Poppins" made it... Read more
Scandal (1989)
6.5/10
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Starring: John Hurt, Joanne Whalley, Bridget Fonda, Ian McKellen, Britt Ekland
Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Bridget Fonda sizzle as the underage party girls who topple the Conservative Party in England in the early Sixties. When soc... Read more
Schindler's List (1993)
8.9/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagalle, Em...
Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is a Nazi Party member out to profit from the war. The local Jewish population provide a ready source of cheap labour fo... Read more
Schindler's List ( Blu-ray ) (1993)
8.9/10
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall, Embeth Davidtz, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jona...
Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) is a Nazi Party member out to profit from the war. The local Jewish population provide a ready source of cheap labour fo... Read more
School Daze (1988)
5.9/10
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell
Spike Lee produced, wrote, directed and stars in this all-black musical comedy about tensions and social divisions at a southern black university, Mis... Read more
Seabiscuit (2003)
7.3/10
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Gary Stevens, Willia...
An exciting and lovingly realized version of Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling book about the horse that captivated America during the 1930s and those... Read more